Where I live, there are a lot of open fields. We’re facing the Strait of Juan de Fuca with our back against the Olympic Mountains. Although the weather changes frequently, because of the mountains, we are saved from the worst of the rain that blesses the State of Washington. However, the combination of sea and mountains makes for some pretty dynamic weather effects. One of my favorites is when the sky darkens with heavy clouds and the sun is low enough to shoot underneath lighting up parts of the landscape. This happens here quite frequently and I paint it whenever I can. While not as dramatic as some I’ve done, I enjoyed the quiet atmosphere of this piece. There is something exciting about to happen, but the land the is waiting and watching. Nothing stirs.

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Price: $125 USD plus $15 USD s/h
Or, send me an email

I recently finished a commission of peonies and had so much of the color left on my palette, I decided to do another peony painting. I just couldn’t see wasting all that luscious pink paint. The apples were green originally but I liked them better as yellow. They were left over too. Not anymore…I just ate the last one.

I recently sold a small nude to a collector and framed it for her in one of these hand finished frames. It looked so good that I decided to offer them as an option on some of my other pieces. This little floral was so charming, I decided it needed its own little frame. The painting is available both with and without the frame. This frame is available for all my 5″ x 7″ pieces.

I actually painted two paintings today but decided to rework the other a bit in the morning. I was striving for just the right tone in the background here and more texture on the vase.

This is a recent commission I completed just yesterday. I really enjoyed getting my teeth into something big again. The painting was done in layers for the most part although there are some wet-in-wet worked areas. My collector loves it and that’s what’s most important. Hope you enjoy it too! To see how this painting was done, click here.

Here’s a close up of the leaves and table flowers. It’s not that noticeable in the photo but I’ve been enhancing some of the blooms by deepening color and scumbling lites in a a few places. Tips of the petals have more color in them and I’ve added this in a few places. Often things that are not at first noticeable to you, become more so as time goes by. These less obvious statements can be brought out in later passes.

There’s a bit of reflected pink on the side of the vase where the flowers rest against it. I’ve added that as well. Notice there are no shadows yet on the table top. Generally these are added even before I start a painting, but I opted to use a glazing method to put them in afterwards. I wanted to develop the leaves a bit more before I do that.

So here I’ve started to add some of the stems and more leaves. In order to differentiate the ones in front from the leaves in back, I’ve lighted some of the edges on the leaves. I’ll refine these even further in the last session.

Notice the cast shadows from the leaves on the table cloth.

I felt that the peony on the left side was a bit too lit up and it was stealing the show from the larger one which is the main focal point of the painting. Even though I loved the way that other peony looked, it’s never a good idea to sacrifice an entire painting for the purpose of preserving a single passage. So I mixed a glaze of the Quinacridone Pink with some green and started to knock it down a bit.
Now that the pant is dry on the other flowers, I’m free to add some modeling to some of the petals by adding more lights and darks. The lights are added with mixtures of titanium white which has high tinting strength and small amounts of Naples Yellow or the Quinacridone Pink – depending on what I’m after. If I add a white/yellow mixture, the petal will round outward. If I add a the pink, it will tend to retreat a bit. Not as much as if I cooled the mixture with green, but just enough to turn the petal away from me.

I’ve also done some more darkening on the apple on the left. The stems and leaves are easier to view here.

Oops. Camera is a bit tilted here. But I think you can get an idea. I’ve mixed some Ultramarine Blue with some umber to tone it down. A glaze mixture with the use of Maroger Medium was combined and then using a soft sable, I started to lay in the lines for the blue design on the vase. I’m careful here to maintain the structure of the vase which is not quite round, but slightly squared off. The design helps to describe the form.

The paint under the glaze is completely dry so that it’s safe to put the glaze on, and if I make a mistake, wipe it out with a brush that has been wet with thinner.
I took the time here to work some more on the petals of the flower resting on the table. I’ve darkened some of the leaves and created stronger cast shadows from them on the table cloth.

Here I’ve added more details. The design the top of the vase is done by making a mixture of shadow white with a touch of ultramarine blue. Remember this part of the design is in the shadow.

I’ve also refined the shape and thickness of the blue lines and darkened the shadow under the vase and some of the other objects on the table.

Viola! Finito la comedia. Or, in other words, done! Much nicer when you get to view the whole piece in one shot.

The final design is in. I’ve heightened the lights on the vase in a couple of places by scumbling in some lighter mixture here and there. The table top is a bit more lit up where the apples are. I’m also finally happy with the peony that is drooping off to the left. It no longer steals the show and tucks back nicely with some atmosphere around it. I’ve darkened the table cloth toward the bottom of the picture as well.

Well, the painting is done, signed and for the most part, both the client and myself are happy with it. Hope you like it too. Thanks for stopping by. Remember, in order to see the whole lesson in one easy read, check out the lesson on my website by clicking here.

“Full Bloom”
18″ x 24″, Oil on Canvas

I’ve added some twigs here for interest. Remember that straight lines are much more attractive than lines that are curvy. In this case, the straight lines form a nice contrast to the curves of the petals and help to create directional lines for the composition. These were done with a palette knife. A little trick I learned at the David Leffel workshop. Slide the edge of your palette knife through the pant and then carefully set the edge against the canvas and pull the knife outward in the desired direction. It does take a bit of practice, but it’s well worth the time investment.